“It’s fine, I also like to think about things when I take a bath, and even act them out.”
“Okay, okay, no need to comfort me! It really… it really was just a slip when I stomped my foot.”
“Actually, I like to sing in the bath too.”
“Why haven’t I ever heard you?”
“Maybe my singing frequency has surpassed your hearing range – you know how some Dungeon BOSSes become immune to your attacks if your attack frequency is too low.”
“Are you talking about this frequency?”
“Oh no, Little Will, be careful! There’s a step up ahead.”
Will walked through the streets of Yamik City, “supported” by Shuna.
His nearsightedness…
It wasn’t severe, but in this… slightly “retro” era, it was considered quite high.
He even felt his eyesight was worse than when he used to sit in front of a computer all day in his previous life.
While he could walk without glasses, he couldn’t be sure what he might bump into.
Therefore, Shuna, who accompanied him to get glasses, temporarily served as his walking stick.
Speaking of which, he felt a sense of nostalgia.
When he was first injected with the witch’s blood, for a brief moment, his eyesight was a little better than it was now.
“Where’s the place to get glasses? That bright spot of light up ahead?”
It was nighttime in Yamik City, and the streets were still brightly lit.
For someone with astigmatism and nearsightedness, bright lights weren’t a good thing; all he could see were halos of light.
“That’s the food street. You know the layout here well; just go through it.”
“Oh… then this must be… the Adventurer’s Guild.”
The entrance to the Adventurer’s Guild was much quieter now.
Even in Will’s condition, he could see that the Adventurer’s Guild had moved out old tables and chairs, placing them to the side, ready to be sold off cheaply.
This was a city that had developed thanks to a “very profitable” Dungeon. With the disappearance of the Dungeon, it would also experience a brief period of decline.
The Adventurer’s Guild was the first to reduce expenses and staff.
As the Guild’s personnel decreased, the number of Adventuring Teams that settled there would also decline.
Following that, merchants and inns that catered to adventurers would gradually move out or go out of business.
However, some adventurers would fall in love with the place after arriving and choose to stay, not as “adventurers,” but as farmers or hunters, doing basic work.
The wind picked up on the street.
Autumn winds were often not strong, but they made the fallen leaves appear particularly bleak.
“It has indeed cooled down. If we head towards the capital later, we’ll be going further north, especially to Tsimat Town. It’s a bit remote and near the mountains. The weather will be colder.”
Shuna said, still supporting Will.
“Yeah. Speaking of which…”
Will looked at Shuna’s clothes.
Her short jacket, which she had been wearing before, seemed to have been burned by Liya’s fire. Oh right… it seemed like her black stockings were also burnt. Will remembered seeing her stockings torn and ragged on her legs before he lost consciousness.
So now she was wearing…
Summer clothes that looked cooler than before.
No…
It was summer wear that showed her belly button, the kind that would make a grandmother shake her head and say she might get diarrhea tomorrow.
“We should also get some clothes suitable for autumn. We can’t freeze to death before entering a Dungeon.”
“Hmm… although that sounds strange coming from someone who has ‘been to the 59th floor of an ice-element Dungeon’…”
Shuna smiled, and her smile gave Will a feeling that this was exactly what she had been expecting.
She wasn’t trying to trick him into saying he wanted to buy clothes, was she?!
And then…
She’d make him pay!
—Although, as the “youngest son of the detestable capitalist Hysterm Family,” he could absolutely afford to buy clothes for a woman!
“The clothing store is right here, let’s buy them first!”
“Alright, alright… then you have to pull me over to the mirror, closer.”
Speaking of which…
The clothes he was wearing now were chosen for him by Liya, Treya, and Iaar, one by one.
They still looked quite new.
It was a pity they were still summer clothes. He should buy a new set and save them for next year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Okay! I’ll take this one!”
“Wait, wait… you decided that quickly?!”
They had only been inside the store for three minutes.
Will could already hear Shuna’s “victory cry.”
Huh?
Should I say…
As expected of Shuna, who could be a brother?
Will had never met a woman who could choose clothes so quickly.
Don’t women usually try on every single item in the store, shopping from morning till dusk, and then end up choosing the first thing they picked up when they walked in?!
“Come look. I think it suits me very well.”
Shuna pulled him away from the racks of clothes and brought him in front of a full-length mirror, spreading her arms wide for him to get a good look.
She…
She had chosen a cotton hoodie, black with a hood, and also put on a pair of over-the-knee stockings that looked thicker than before, judging by how much skin they covered.
She even deliberately pulled up the hood.
With her hands in her pockets, she spun around, letting Will see her from every angle.
And this hoodie was quite long, to the point where it just covered the edge of her hot shorts.
When she spun, some angles revealed her denim hot shorts, but from the front, it looked as if she was wearing just the stockings with the hoodie, creating a perfect “Absolute Territory” between them and the stockings.
—Why does this feel so much like accompanying a girlfriend clothes shopping and watching her pick out an outfit?
Even Will couldn’t help but mutter.
However…
Shuna’s outfit was indeed “special” for this era and among adventurers.
With the hood up, combined with her black hair, which was common to see on him in this peculiar place, yet still special.
It exuded a mysteriously abundant “modern vibe,” like a cool, solitary JK (Japanese High School girl) on the street.
She might be seen standing on the street with her phone, then pouting as she walked up to her boyfriend and said, “You’re too late!”
“What do you think? I picked it out specially, doesn’t it give off an ‘assassin in the shadows’ vibe? It would be perfect for the Tenth Demon City, right?”
She pulled herself closer to him, her black eyes under the hood reflecting the lights behind him.
Indeed…
This gesture…
It was more like a JK showing off her cool new outfit to her boyfriend.
She even had a slightly unpredictable, mischievous aura.
But…
Was it because the hooded hoodie was too modern? Although in a book like this, filled with adventurer clothing, such an outfit wouldn’t be out of place.
Why…
Will felt a sense of déjà vu when he saw this outfit.
Had he seen the same style in his previous life?
“It’s good, it looks great. How should I put it? Like an outfit I saw in a dream?”
“Wonderful.”
Shuna happily snapped her fingers.
“I get it now. When choosing clothes… you have to be spontaneous. After looking around, it’s often the first item that gives you that perfect feeling, and the one that attracts your gaze the most is the best!”
“That’s true. Then, after I’ve chosen mine, we can pay together…”
Will’s intention to play the “sugar daddy” was cut short…
“Here, you get one too!”
Shuna grabbed him and shoved a larger-sized hoodie, the same style as hers but placed on a nearby rack, into his hands.
Incidentally, this was Yamik City’s largest adventurer equipment store. Most of the clothes in such an establishment were often unisex.
“I… I’ll get one too?”
But wouldn’t wearing the same style of clothes be too much…
Too much like a couple of adventurers?
He and Shuna had been mistaken for a couple many times. Even Liya probably saw that news report before…
“Of course! Because this one really suits our team, doesn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Shuna, with her hood on, pulled her hoodie down.
“The pattern on it, look, look! It’s the Shining Star!”
The golden star pattern on the black fabric was very clear, especially when she stretched the hoodie to show it off.
A golden star shining on the snow mountains of Entak—in Entak, it was a symbol of the morning star. This was because one of the most famous paintings of the “Shining Star” depicted it standing atop the highest peak of the snow mountain.
Although the original work’s team name was “Shining Star,” Will, upon seeing this painting, had first considered whether this world was truly on Earth in the solar system. Could this star, also called the morning star, be Venus?
“I was thinking, when Will gave me a bookmark, it was printed with galaxies and starlight. And the team name is also Shining Star.”
Shuna released her hand, and the fabric of the new clothes had excellent elasticity, with the mountain peaks and the Shining Star bouncing slightly with the movement.
“You probably like the starry sky or stars, right? So no matter what you design or do, it always involves the starry sky and the universe. How about… we make this style of clothing our team uniform!”
Hmm…
Will picked up the hoodie.
He carefully examined the pattern on it.
A mature Adventuring Team, especially one with a stable roster, always had a set of team uniforms.
It was like a brand. For example, the Radiant Knights now had a complete set of uniforms that looked like actual uniforms.
Even freshly graduated students would diligently purchase a set of clothes from a clothing store, even if they had to switch to heavy armor to enter Dungeons, just to wear them for photos.
But…
His fingers gently brushed the star.
He had once, due to “Fate,” never thought this team would last “a year,” nor did he think he himself would survive a year.
It wasn’t surprising that Shuna was the one who remembered this first.
Because for a long time… he didn’t believe from the bottom of his heart that “mutual effort” and “bonds” within an Adventuring Team could truly happen to him.
But…
Now that a certain protagonist was missing for an extended period, now that Liya had boldly confessed her feelings to him today, now that “Shining Star” was a name he had originally created himself…
“That makes sense. Then I’ll try this one on.”
He would enjoy the life of his own Adventuring Team to the fullest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watching Will enter the fitting room, Shuna fell into thought.
“Actually, I wanted to find an excuse to wear the same clothes as him, to look more like a couple of adventurers. After all, it will take others some time to wear them.”
“But…”
“He seems to have taken it seriously?”
